In Panama, defamation conviction draws outcry

New York, October 7,
2010--A Panamanian court of appeals has convicted two TV journalists of
criminal defamation and banned them from professional work for one year, news
reports said. While President Ricardo Martinelli said he would pardon the
journalists, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today that lawmakers
should repeal all criminal penalties for defamation.

The case stems from a 2005 story, aired by the national
broadcaster TVN Canal 2, alleging that Panamanian immigration officials were
taking part in human trafficking. Two officials named in the story filed a
defamation complaint against Sabrina Bacal, the station's news director, and
Justino González, the reporter on the story, Panamanian press reports said. In
separate rulings in February and March, two lower courts dismissed the charges
against the reporters, Bacal told CPJ.

But in a ruling dated September 28 and made public on Monday,
an appeals court in Panama City
overturned the lower court decisions and barred the reporters from working for
one year. The court also ordered Bacal and González to pay a US$3,650 fine or
be subjected to a one-year suspended prison term.

Facing criticism from the local press and human rights defenders,
Martinelli offered a full pardon on Wednesday, according to a government
statement. The issuance of the pardon was still pending as of today.

"While we welcome President Martinelli's decision to pardon
our colleagues, we urge local authorities to carry out legal reforms to fully
decriminalize defamation," said Carlos Lauría, CPJ's senior program coordinator
for the Americas.
"Criminal defamation provisions are seriously inhibiting the ability of local
journalists to report the news, and Panamanians' right to be informed."

Earlier
this year, veteran Panamanian journalist Carlos Núñez López served
20 days in prison in connection with a 2008 criminal defamation conviction, CPJ research
shows. A property owner alleged he was defamed in a story about environmental
damage in Bocas del Toro province.

There is a growing consensus among countries in the region
that reporters should not be jailed for criminal defamation. The Argentine
Congress repealed
criminal defamation provisions in its penal code in November 2009, while in
April 2009 Brazil's
Supreme Federal Tribunal annulled
the 1967 Press Law, which had imposed harsh criminal penalties for libel and
slander.

Panama has only partially
decriminalized defamation. Under a May 2008 reform, defamation of high-ranking public
officials is no longer subject to criminal sanctions. But other criminal
defamation provisions remain in place. The TVN Canal 2 case would
be subject to criminal defamation even now, for example, because it did not involve senior officials,
said Miguel Bernal, a Panamanian lawyer who handles press freedom issues.